Smile, You're in Love
by Literati4Ever528
Summary: Story starts off with the RoryJess encounter in Doose's from the end of episode 3.02 Haunted Leg. Continues in a completely different direction from then on. Literati, of course, with maybe, I stress maybe, a little LL action somewhere in there.
1. Chapter 1

**Smile, You're in Love**

**Summary:** Story starts off with the Rory/Jess encounter in Doose's from the end of episode 3.02 "Haunted Leg". Continues in a completely different direction from then on. Literati, of course, with maybe, I stress maybe, a little LL action somewhere in there.

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own any rights to the show. All characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino. The first scene in this first chapter was borrowed from the episode 3.02 entitled "Haunted Leg", which was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino. All characters and dialogue from this scene belong to her and her alone. The three asterix () will indicate when this scene has ended.

**A/N:** Hey guys! This is my first fic, so please critique it a lot, I mean, a lot. Send lots of reviews on what I did well and what I can improve on! I hope you enjoy it! The first scene, from the episode "Haunted Leg" is in script form, in order to keep it the way it originally was, but the rest will be in "story" form, if that's what it's called. And yeah, now I'm rambling and saying things that you probably don't want to read about, so just read and review! Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

Cut to Inside Doose's Market

Rory walks into an isle and sees Jess

Jess: Doing a little shopping?

Rory: Yes. Excuse me.

Jess: Why the cold shoulder?

Rory: No cold shoulder. I just have perishables here.

Jess: Oh yeah, you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad.

Rory: My mom's waiting for me.

Jess: How was Washington?

Rory: Fine.

Jess: Do anything interesting?

Rory: Nope.

Jess: Okay.

Rory: What about you?

Jess: What about me?

Rory: Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean.

Jess: Nope.

Rory: Really?

Jess: Really.

Rory: So nothing happened this summer, at all?

Jess: It was hot. Two weeks ago there was a run on snow cones. Machine broke, people went crazy, Taylor tried to call in the National Guard but-

Rory: I'm not talking about snow cones.

Jess: What are you talking about then?

Rory: Nothing.

Jess: Her name's Shane.

Rory: As in 'come back'?

Jess: Yup.

Rory: Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great.

Jess: So I've heard.

Rory: Well, it is.

Jess: Are you upset about something?

Rory: No.

Jess: I mean, me and Shane-

Rory: What about you and Shane?

Jess: I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face.

Rory: Well, I'm still freaked out about the, uh, snow cone machine.

Jess: Okay.

Rory: I could care less about you and Shane.

Jess: Good.

Rory: It just surprised me, that's all.

Jess: Why?

Rory: Because.

Jess: Because why?

Rory: Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding.

Jess: Ah.

Rory: Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec.

Jess: I'm sorry, did I hear from you all summer? Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me? You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything…very flattering by the way. You go off to Washington…then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show.

Rory: When did you see me with Dean?

Jess: At that stupid summer insanity plea the town put on.

Rory: Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face.

Jess: You didn't answer me.

Rory: About what?

Jess: Did you call me at all?

Rory: No.

Jess: Did you send me a letter?

Rory: No.

Jess: Postcard?

Rory: No.

Jess: Smoke signal?

Rory: Stop.

Jess: A nice fruit basket?

Rory: Enough!

Jess: Are you still with Dean? Come on, Rory, yes or no – are you still with Dean?

Rory: Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!

Jess: Glad to hear it.

Rory: Glad to tell you.

Jess: See you around.

Rory: Whatever.

Jess: Right back at ya.

Cut to Outside

Rory walks out of the market with a bag of groceries

Lorelai: Hey, I was just gonna come in after you. You all done?

Rory: Oh yeah, I'm done.

"Hey, what's up? You okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Yep. Fine." _Great, now I'm lying to my mother. _

Lorelai rolled her eyes. _My god, can she be any worse of a liar? Have I taught her nothing all these years? What kind of mother am I to not be able to teach my daughter to lie? _"Something's bothering you. I'd know that face anywhere. Spill."

"I'm fine, really." Rory kept walking, hoping Lorelai would give up on the topic and switch to planning the movie order for their Matthew Broderick movie marathon they were having that night.

"Oh, please. I know when you're lying, you do the blinky thing when you're lying, and you're doing that now. Even if you weren't doing the blinky thing, I'd still know you were lying. So come on, spill." Lorelai stops, along with Rory, in front of Weston's. Both face each other, but Rory is avoiding Lorelai's relentless stare.

Rory finally looks up at her mother. "Fine. You want to know what's bothering me? I ran into Jess in Doose's! We hashed it all out right in front of the register! I can't…"

_Whoa, hold up._ "Wait, you "hashed it out" in Doose's? At the register? I thought Dean works at Doose's? Wouldn't he see this fight?" _Oh boy, not good. Very not good._

Rory rolled her eyes. "Well, luckily for me, Dean had tonight off. I can't believe Jess. He's so insensitive. I mean, he's acting like the whole thing meant nothing to him." _Am I that bad of a kisser? Does he hate me?_

"You mean the kiss? I thought you were gonna forget about that and make things right with Dean?" Lorelai asked, now clearly confused about the situation her daughter was in.

"I was – am! I am trying to make things right with Dean! But running into Jess just kind of threw me, especially when he acted like such a jerk, he's usually so nice."

_Oh, my, god. I cannot believe what I am hearing. _"Well Rory, what do you expect? You say you're with Dean, then you go and kiss Jess at Sookie's wedding! You're playing with two boys hearts. You have to decide which one you want to be with. If you want to be with Dean, fine. Just don't get jealous of Jess and whoever he's playing around with. If you want to be with Jess, then you can't string Dean along, it's not fair to him! But, either way, you have to decide!" _Man, can she not see what she's doing? I thought she had more common sense than this._

_Who the hell does she think she is, making that snide comment about Jess 'playing around'? She has no idea what she's talking about! _"You don't understand my position in all of this! It's not that easy to decide!" Rory yelled, not realizing that the whole town could be watching the scene.

"I thought you had already decided! I thought you were going to make things right with Dean!" Lorelai said, trying to stay calm. At least she knew the risks of having this kind of argument in the middle of town, especially Stars Hollow.

"Why do you keep coming back to that? Why can't you just let me work this out on my own?"

"We always could talk about these things! We would always try to come up with a solution! And now, I'm trying to help and be supportive and you're pushing me away!"

"Trying to be supportive? You call yelling at me and telling me what to do supportive? I'm trying to figure out how I feel about all of this and then how to go from there, and you're pushing it aside like it would never work, that your idea is so much better! I don't know about you, but to me it seems quite a bit like something Grandma would do!" Rory yelled. _Oh, crap. I can't believe I just compared her to Emily. That might have been a little harsh. But she needs to realize where I'm coming from. She doesn't understand._

_Ouch. _"Oh, so now you're comparing me to Emily? Oh yeah, I can definitely see how I am like my mother from this standpoint. I am not judging you; Emily would be judging you, calling you horrible things for dragging these poor boys' hearts around! 'It is not the proper thing to do, Rory. This is not how it is done in society! We have much higher standards and morals than this!' I'm not judging you; I'm just trying to help! I can definitely see how that turns me into Emily!"

"Well, stop trying to help! I need to figure this out on my own! This is my thing! You don't get a say in how I live my life!" _God, why can't you just let me figure this out? Leave me alone!_

"Oh. Okay then. If you don't want me to help you I won't. And if you don't want my help or opinion on any other aspect of your life that's fine, too. I'll be at home." _Fine, if she thinks she doesn't need me, fine. We'll see how far she gets before this whole thing becomes too much for her and she's in way over her head. _

Lorelai turned around and walked past Weston's and Al's heading back towards the Crap Shack. Rory, glaring at her for a second with boiling fury, turns on her heal and storms off towards the bridge.

Rory walked down the path that lead to the bridge. As she approached the edge of the bridge, she stopped dead in her tracks. She stared straight ahead, not believing what was right in from of her eyes.

"Oh, my, god. What the hell are you doing here?"

Jess looked up from where he was sitting on the edge of the bridge with his feet dangling over the water. When he saw who was standing there, a small smirk appeared on his face.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Rory sat down next to him, dangling her feet over the edge of the bridge as well. "Well, I asked you first." _Great, that was a cheesy come back. Good going Gilmore._

Jess smirked even more at this comment. "Well, aren't we mature."

"Oh, shut up and just answer the question." Rory rolled her eyes.

"How can I answer the question if you told me to shut up?" And the smirk just kept on growing.

"Oh, my, god, do you always have to be such a smart-ass? Just answer the question!" Rory spat, getting annoyed.

"Okay, okay! I just came here to think. What about you?" Jess answered honestly. _Where else can I go without being bombarded with the psychotic inhabitants of this loony bin?_

"Same."

Jess scoffed. "Oh really? Why would you need to come here to think?"

"Mom and I had a fight. And when I say fight, I mean a real blow out. We've never had a fight like this. The last fight we really had was two years ago when I didn't want to go to Chilton. But this, this was bad, and right in front of Weston's too. Not the best place to have a fight, especially with Kirk, Taylor, Patty, and Babette most likely lurking around the corner and…" Rory ranted, talking at a rapid speed.

"Whoa, hold up, you're gonna pass out from lack of air. You really do take after Lorelai, with your ranting skills." _That's just what this town needs, a clone of Lorelai that can rant and be as large a sugar addict as her. And to think that I thought Rory could be more normal than her mother._

"Ha ha, very funny." Rory countered.

"So…what were you two fighting about anyway that would cause such a huge fight?"

Rory visibly cringed. Hesitatingly, she started, "Oh…um…well…you see…we were sort of…um…fighting about...well…"

"Rory, spit it out!"

"Okay, sorry. We were um…fighting about…you and…um…Dean…" Rory stated shyly.

"Ah."

_And now the monosyllabic answers return. _"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry about how I acted earlier in Doose's. I shouldn't really have snapped at you like I did. I mean, this whole situation is my fault, having kissed you and not saying anything or calling you at all and stuff, and I don't care if you just want to forget the whole thing ever happened and just go back to the way things were before everything happened and…"

_Again with the ranting! _"Rory! Breathe!"

"Sorry."

"It's ok. Just, if you'd let me get a word in, you'd know that you're not the only one to blame for what happened in Doose's. I was being just as big of an ass. Plus, I'm also to blame for the kiss, because one, I'm the one who decided to move back to Stars Hollow; Two, I kissed you back in case you hadn't noticed. And I don't want to forget it ever happened." _On the contrary, I hope it can happen many a time in the future._

"You don't?" _Thank god. I thought he hated me. _

"No. Do you?" _Please don't, please don't._

"No…what now?"

"I have no idea."

_Books are always a safe subject. _"So…have you tried reading The Fountainhead yet? 'Cause if you hav…"

Getting fed up with having to hear her rant every ten seconds, Jess gave her a quick kiss. Rory pulled back, confused as to what had just taken place.

"Sorry. You were about to go on another one of your crazy rants, so I though it would be a good idea to shut you up some…"

Rory leaned in and kissed him. He gladly returned the kiss. Minutes passed, and as they did, the kiss got more and more heated and passionate. Rory pulled back, out of breath.

"Jess, we shouldn't be doing this." Rory breathes out.

"Why not?" Jess asks, as he tried to kiss her again.

"Jess…you're with Shane, and I'm…with Dean."

Annoyed now, Jess asked, "Why do you want to be with Dean anyway?"

"Why do you want to be with Shane?"

"Who said I wanted to be with her? I don't even know her last name. I could care less about whether or not I'm with Shane. Why do you want to be with Dean?"

"I don't want to be with Dean," Rory mumbled, barely audible.

"What was that?" Jess asked, snidely.

"I don't want to be with Dean, ok? I thought I loved him but I was wrong, ok? Is that what you wanted to hear? I don't love Dean; I don't want to be with Dean! I like someone else! God, are you happy now? I've finally admitted it. I hope you get some sort of pleasure out of this," Rory exclaimed, a little louder.

"I don't want to be with Shane, either. I like someone else," Jess stated, more softly.

"Oh. Okay then. Well…um…" _Oh, my, god. Does he like me?_

"Rory, I like you. I want to be with you. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just wanted to get it out in the open," he admitted. He smirked, waiting to see or hear her response.

Rory smiled, "I like you, too. I want to be with you, Jess."

Right as the words left her mouth, Jess leaned in and kissed her. This time, not having any reason to stop it, Rory let herself succumb to the kiss, letting it grow more passionate and more heated. When the need for air became overwhelming, Jess pulled away, breathing heavily.

"I should go. I have to take care of some things. I kind of ditched Luke at the diner, so he's probably pissed, plus I should probably talk to Shane. And you should get home, too. Talk to your mom, set things right and back to normal," Jess advised.

"You're right. Plus, I should…um…probably…um…talk…to um…Dean…"

"Yeah. So I'll see you tomorrow for your daily coffee fix, right?" He smirked.

"You should know me well enough to know that answer." She smirked right back at him.

Smiling, Jess kissed Rory goodbye, got up and walked off towards the diner. Rory smiled and watched him walk away. After a few minutes, she, too, stood up and walked back towards her house. But, she couldn't get rid of the nervous feeling she had in her stomach.

Walking in the front door, Rory quietly took off her coat and hung on the rack in the foyer. She carefully peaked into the living room, then started in towards the kitchen. Heading towards her room, she spotted Lorelai sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hey," Rory started, cautiously.

"Hey," was the only response she got.

_Great, now I'm getting the cold shoulder. I really screwed this up. _"I'm sorry. I was a complete jerk. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I shouldn't have compared you to Grandma. You're nothing like her. I know you were just trying to help. And I need your help. I want your help, and your opinion. I'm so sorry, Mom." _Please don't be mad, please don't be mad._

Lorelai smiled at her daughter's apology and rant. "Ah, it's ok, babe. I shouldn't have yelled, either. But you still need to decide what you're going to do about all of this, though, hun. Who do you want to be with, Dean or Jess? You have to sort this out. Have you even thought about it all?"

"Of course I've thought about it! I actually went to the bridge and thought about it." She smiled. "I've made my decision, too."

Lorelai smiled, intrigued and wanting to know who had stolen her daughter's heart. "Really? So, what's your decision? Who's it gonna be?"

"I've decided that I'm going to…break up with Dean and be with Jess. What do you think?" Rory braced herself for what she hoped wouldn't be another blow up.

_Ok, it's ok, it's what she wants. You can support her on this. _"You're going to break up with Dean? I thought you wanted to make things right with him. What changed your mind?"_ Oh great, that didn't come out right. But at least I asked what changed her mind. That makes me sound supportive, right?_

"Well, um, the more I thought about it and analyzed it, I realized that, even though I thought I loved Dean – and I really did love him – I just, I guess, have fallen out of love with him. He's just, I don't know, not the same person anymore. I can't talk to him about what I read; I can't talk about the same stuff with him. Plus, he's sort of turned into the jealous, overly-protective and overly-possessive boyfriend. I just, I really like Jess, Mom. I can talk to him about books, we like the same things, he's easy to talk to. I want to be with him." _There. I told the truth and said what I felt. Wow, it feels good to get that off my chest._

"But isn't he seeing that blonde tramp, what's her face?" Lorelai asked.

"He's…um…actually…um…breaking up with Shane tonight."

This surprised Lorelai. "How do you know that?"

"Well…um…I kind of ran into him when I was at the bridge."

"Really?" Lorelai's tone had gone from mild surprise to one of complete confusion.

"Yeah."

Now, Lorelai wanted details. "Well? What happened? Come on, I want details! Give me the scoop! Fill me in! I want to know! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" _Man, she takes too long. I have to teach her to think faster. I want the dirty details, come on!_

Rory smiled, amused at her mother's newfound enthusiasm. "Well, I was walking down towards the bridge and I get there and he's sitting there. So I sat down next to him and we started to talk. I apologized to him and told him that if he wanted to forget about the kiss at Sookie's wedding that it was fine. He said he didn't want to forget about it. Then, we…um…kissed, but I stopped it because we still hadn't resolved the whole Dean/Shane issue yet. So, he said that he didn't want to be with Shane, and I said that I didn't want to be with Dean. Then we kissed again. But then he said that he had to go because he had kind of ditched Luke at the diner and he wanted to take care of the whole Shane situation, and he said that I should go home and fix things with you. And, that's pretty much what happened." _God, that was a good kiss._

_Aw, that's not that dirty. But it is really sweet. I guess Jess gets some brownie points. He can at least eat the good cookies. Maybe. _"Wow. It's been quite a night."

"Yes it has." _And I want to relive it over and over._

"So…" Lorelai started.

"So…"

Lorelai smiled. "How was it?"

"Ah, Mom!"

"Come on, tell me!" _Please, pretty please, with sugar on top?_

"No." _No way, no how._

"Please?" _Come on, tell me!_

"No."

_Fades out._

**A/N: **Well, I hope you liked it! Read and review! I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**Smile, You're in Love**

**Summary:** Story starts off with the Rory/Jess encounter in Doose's from end of episode 3.02 "Haunted Leg". Continues in a completely different direction from then on. Literati, of course, with maybe, I stress maybe, a little LL action somewhere in there.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own Gilmore Girls. How sad. I will now proceed to cry…

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! I now have the second chapter up! I hope you like it. Read and review!

**Chapter 2**

"Rise and shine! Time to get up! The sun is up, the birds are chirping! Up, up, pip, pip! Let's go!"

Rory groaned and rolled over. _What the hell is she talking about? The damn sun isn't up yet. _"Go away. Too early."

"Nonsense. It's 8:00 on a Saturday. That's not early. Come on, get up. We've got a lot to accomplish today."

Rory pulled the covers over her head. "Leave me alone. Ten more minutes." _Will the torment never stop?_

"Nope." The covers were quickly pulled off Rory and thrown to the side of the room.

"Oh, my, god. Fine, I'll get up!" Rory sat up, rubbing her eyes. As she took her hands away from her eyes, she looked up and screamed. "OH MY GOD! What the hell are you doing here?" _Great way to give a girl a heart attack!_

Lane smiled at her. "I'm here to get you up. We have a lot to accomplish today. Lorelai kind of filled me in about what happened last night on her way to the inn. So I figured you could finish filling me in, then we could get breakfast at Luke's, then take care of whatever unfinished business that you have, then maybe we could head to this really cool music store that opened up in Willimantic? What do you think?" _Come on say yes, this store has everything you could ever dream of finding!_

Rory grinned at her best friend's crazy antics, then frowned slightly. "How much did my mom tell you exactly?"

"Oh, not much. Basically that you and Jess kissed at Sookie's wedding, then last night, you and Jess fought, then you and Lorelai fought, then you went to the bridge where you ran into Jess, then you guys talked, then you guys kissed, and you decided that you want to be with Jess and not Dean." Lane was out of breath by the time she finished. _Thanks for filling me in, by the way. Don't I feel loved?_

"Did she go into detail?"

"No, she left that job for you."

"Ah, okay. Tell you what. How about I get dressed, then I'll fill you in on the way to Luke's?" _I need my J – coffee fix. Yeah, my coffee fix. _

"Sounds good. Just, one question."

"Shoot," Rory said.

"Have you talked to Dean yet?" Lane asked. _'Cause that would be a smart idea._

"No, not yet. I was actually going to do that today after my coffee fix." Rory stared at her feet as she said this. _Crap, that's not gonna go well at all._

"Oh. Well, how about if I wait outside his house or Doose's while you talk to him, that way you have someone there for moral support?"

"Thanks Lane. You're the best."

"Yeah, well I try." Lane grinned.

"I'll be just a sec," Rory said as she walked towards the bathroom.

By the time they reached Luke's, Lane was completely up to date on what had transpired the past couple days and months. As they entered the diner, the bells above the door jingled merrily. The girls went up to sit at the counter as Luke stepped out of the storage room.

"Hey Rory, Lane. What can I get you guys?"

"Hey Luke. Can we get two orders of blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and lots and lots of coffee, please?" Rory asked sweetly.

_How the hell are they still alive from eating this instant death for all their lives? _"Do you know how much damage this stuff will do to your insides?" Luke interrogated.

"You've only told us, like, everyday that we've been coming here," Rory replied, smirking. _Please go on a rant. Luke rants are so fun to watch!_

Luke shot her an evil look, then walked into the kitchen to start their artery-clogging breakfast. As Rory and Lane were happily sipping their coffee, Jess made an appearance as he walked out from behind the curtain leading up to the apartment. He stopped halfway behind the counter when he saw Rory and Lane sitting there.

"Hey," Jess smiled. _Finally, took her long enough to get here. Man, does she look good._

"Hey," Rory smiled back.

"Can I…um…can I talk to you…upstairs…for a minute?" he asked. _Very smooth._

"Yeah, sure," Rory replied. "I'll be back in a minute," she told Lane. _Or two or three…_

"Take your time." Lane smirked at the way the two of them looked at each other. _Aren't they just adorable? He hurts her he dies._

Upstairs in the apartment, Jess walked in with Rory following close by. Once the door was closed, an awkward silence followed.

Jess was the first one to break the hovering silence. "So, how are you?" _Lame start, buddy._

Rory smiled shyly. _He's so cute when he's shy. _"Good. What's going on with you?"

"Not too much. I actually decided to give The Fountainhead another try." _Kill me now, please._

"Really? I'm sure you'll like it this time. It's such a great book." _He's dying on the inside, I know it! _

"Yeah…um…have you…um…talked to Dean yet?" _Well, that was a great transition. Make her so uncomfortable she'll just leave. Idiot._

_Oh, boy, here we go. _"Oh, um…no, Lane and I were actually gonna head over there after we ate. Lane was gonna wait while I talked to him. We were gonna head to this new music store in Willimantic afterward," Rory explained. _Please don't be mad, please don't be mad. _

"Ok. Well, um, I'll be here all day, so when you get back, stop by and tell me what happened, ok?" Jess asked. _Good, try and be open, maybe this will work. I can be open and be available for her to talk to, right? _

_He's trying to be open with me. Ah, I find that so cute. _"You bet. We probably won't be in Willimantic for too long, depending on if I can take the jeep or if we have to take the bus, but I will definitely stop by afterwards," Rory said, smiling.

Smiling as well, Jess walked up to her and, gently placing his hands on her hips, leaned in to give her a kiss. Their lips met with all the passion and electricity that the two could feel. As they gently pulled away, Jess smirked.

"Go eat your breakfast. I'll talk to you later."

Jess kissed her goodbye and watched her walk back downstairs to Lane and her breakfast with a smile. _She does that so well. _

After they finished their breakfast, Rory and Lane were walking through the square towards Dean's house for the inevitable talk. Rory was nervous and fidgety; Lane kept shooting her sympathetic side-long glances. All of a sudden they heard footsteps running up behind them.

"Hey Rory! Wait up!" a voice called.

_Crap. _Rory turned around and froze. Lane, turning to see what she was looking at, froze as well. Dean came to a stop in front of them.

"Hey, I just got the day off. I was thinking we could hang out today," Dean said. He leaned in to kiss her.

_This is not good, very not good. _Lane interrupted him before he could. "Um…I'll just…um…leave you two to talk. I'll be in the gazebo when you're ready to go, 'k Ror?"

_Why are you leaving? Don't leave! _"Sure thing Lane. I'll be there in a bit," Rory grinned nervously.

Dean eyed her suspiciously. _What does she mean? We're going to hang out. _ "What's going on Rory?"

Rory glanced up at him, then quickly down to her shoes. _Please let this go smoothly. _"Um…I think we should talk, Dean."

"About what?"

Rory started to fidget even more nervously. _You can do this. Just tell him that you think we should break up. It's easy. _"Well…um…this isn't easy for me to say, but…um…I think…that…um…I think that we should…um…break up."

"What? Why?" Dean was confused and upset. _What the hell is going on here? Is she insane?_

"I think we should break up," Rory repeated more confidently this time. "I just…I don't…I just don't think it's working out. We're both changing and becoming different people. I just think that we're growing apart. Even if I wasn't breaking up with you right now, I don't think we would have lasted much longer. I'm sorry Dean. I really am." _Please believe me. And…by the look on his face he's mad. Really mad. Uh oh, here comes the big blow up…_

_She is not breaking up with me! She cannot do this! I love her! She's crazy if she thinks she's gonna break up with me! _"Where is all of this coming from? I mean, a couple days ago everything was fine! I thought we were doing fine! I thought you loved me Rory!" Dean was angry and upset. He hadn't expected Rory to ever break up with him. He didn't think he deserved this. He loved her, damnit!

_Just explain it to him. Explain it as nicely as possible. He'll understand. _"I thought I loved you too, Dean, but, I don't know, people fall out of love. I think that's what happened. I think that at one point, I did love you, but I think that at some point, I fell out of love with you. I'm sorry Dean," Rory pleaded to him, hoping that he would understand. She stole a glance over his shoulder at the diner and saw Jess sneaking peaks at them in between refilling coffee mugs.

Dean followed her gaze and started to understand what was happening. _You've got to be kidding me. That little bitch._ "Oh, I get it. You're breaking up with me so you can be with him. You've got it through your head that he likes you, and you like him, and that you two will live happily ever after, huh? Well, I'll tell you that it's not going to happen. You'll just end up being another one of his conquests to try and get a girl in bed, then he'll ditch you and you'll come crying back to me, begging me to take you back, that you made a mistake. But I'll ignore you and treat you like your treating me now, like dirt. I'm telling you now, you get together with that guy, you'll become the slut of Stars Hollow, just like your mom was the slut of Hartford. Have fun ruining your life."

_Oh, he did not just call my mom and me sluts. He is dead. _"You son of a…" Rory started, going to slap him across the face, but he was too quick. He grabbed her arm before she could hit him and slapped her hard across the face. As she stumbled backward, he let go of her arm, spitted in her face, and walked away. Rory stood there shocked; she brought a hand up to her face to wipe at the saliva running down her bruised cheek.

Lane, having watched the whole ordeal, ran over to her best friend. Jess, who had been watching through the diner's window, put down the coffee pot on the counter and ran out the door to help Rory.

As he approached Rory and Lane he said, "I am going to kill that jackass! Are you okay?" _That jerk will die! It will be a slow and painful death that involves villagers and torches, and I will enjoy every minute of it._

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just have a small bruise. I'm just shocked. I never thought Dean would do something like that," Rory replied. _I can't believe he did that. I didn't think it would go that bad._

"Neither did I," Lane agreed. "He used to be so nice and caring." _So much for being the good, safe boyfriend._

"I don't know, it always seemed to me like he was a complete jerk. Very controlling," Jess said.

"It doesn't matter any more. It's over and that's that. We don't have to worry about it anymore," Rory sighed in relief. "Now we can just move on with our lives." She smiled at Jess. _And now I can officially be with you._

Jess smirked back and leaned in to give her a kiss. Rory happily gave into the kiss and they broke apart smiling even more.

"Now, how about you two head off to that music store you wanted to check out. I have to get back to work anyway before Luke kills me. I'll see you later?"

"You bet." Rory kissed him goodbye and her and Lane headed off towards the inn to get Lorelai's jeep.

With the bells jingling happily over their heads, Rory and Lane walked into the diner later that afternoon, arms weighed down by their many purchases. Collapsing into chairs at a table by the window, they placed the bags of CDs onto the table to be sorted through while eating a plate of chili cheese fries.

"Back already. And with bags, how fun. That stuff better not get in the way of the other customers while you're here. What can I get you?" Luke asked. He looked at the bags and small stacks of CDs that were starting to pile up on the table with an apprehensive look.

"We went CD shopping out in Willimantic today. We got a lot accomplished. We got some Bon Jovi, some Beatles, some Rush, oh, and the new Goo Goo Dolls CD. Wanna listen to it? Where's your CD player?" Lane asked, going on one of her music oriented rants.

"I don't have a CD player in the diner. People don't want to hear loud music playing while they try to eat their food. I don't want to hear it either. Now, what can I get you?"

"Jeez, isn't someone grumpy today. You know what would take care of your grumpy mood? Some wonderful music by Boston. They're very relaxing. Their voices may be very high-pitched, but they are great musicians," Lane's rant continued.

"Ok, you have two choices. Either shut her up, or you leave without getting coffee. You decide."

"I'm sorry Luke. She gets kind of excited after going CD shopping. She's an aspiring music mogul. What can I do? I promise I'll shut her up. Now, can we get two orders of chili cheese fries and coffee in a keg?" Rory asked.

"Two heart attacks on a plate coming up." Luke walked away towards the kitchen.

"Thank you Luke! Oh, and don't forget the coffee!" Rory called after him.

"So, what do you think we should analyze first, the Def Leppard or the Judas Priest?" Lane inquired.

"How about we eat our chili cheese fries, I catch up with Jess real quick, then we can go to my house and analyze the Peter Gabriel first?" Rory suggested.

"Fine by me. Oh, food."

Rory looked over to see Jess bringing their fries and the coffee pot over to the table. After setting down the plates and pouring the coffee, he sat down next to Rory.

"So, the quest was successful I see."

"Of course. You can't go to a music store without buying at least ten CDs. Oh, did you see the Pink Floyd I got, Rory? Oh, or the Who? You can't have a complete collection without some 'Money' or 'My Generation' or 'Baba O'Reilly'," Lane explained.

"Don't forget the Skid Row. You can't leave out Skid Row," Rory jumped in.

"I could never forget Sebastian Bach. That's virtually impossible!"

"Ok, you two have officially gone insane. I think I should hide all this stuff from you, then check you two into rehab for music addicts," Jess joked.

"Don't mock us. Although we may be very mockable, it's not nice. We just like to be well experienced and well knowledged in the music world," Rory explained.

"For a girl who goes to Chilton, you just said two words that don't even exist," Jess teased.

"Oh yeah? Which ones were they Mr. Smartypants?" Rory asked.

"Mr. Smartypants? That's a good one. And for your information they were 'mockable' and 'knowledged'."

"They are too words! Lorelai uses them all the time. As do I!" Lane interrupted.

"You guys are officially insane. I'm leaving before I become crazy too," Jess said as he got up from the table.

"Hey, it's fun to be insane. You feel happy all the time," Rory informed him.

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer to stay sane for a while longer thank you very much. I'm sure now that we're together I'll be going insane sometime soon anyway. How's your cheek, by the way?" Jess inquired about her now visibly bruised cheekbone.

"It's fine. It doesn't even hurt. The only hard part was trying to explain to mom what had happened. She wasn't too happy."

"Well neither am I. I want to go out there and kill that jackass right into next week. But I'll refrain for your sake," Jess said.

"Thank you. You're just starting to win over some brownie points with my mom, you wouldn't want to blow it now," Rory told him.

"Yeah, well, I'll try to be good."

"Thank you."

"You guys have been going out less than a day and she's already got you whipped to abiding to her every word. You're good, Rory. You need to teach me how you do it," Lane said, amazed.

"She does not have me whipped. I just like to do things for her," Jess defended, trying to keep up his "bad boy" reputation.

"Ha, that's a good one. You're totally whipped."

"Please make her shut up."

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee that it will work. We should probably get back to my house anyway to sort through all of this stuff. I'll see you later?" Rory asked.

"If I know your mother, you'll both probably be in here for dinner, so I guess I will see you later," Jess replied.

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, before standing up, picking up the coffee pot, and returning to work. Rory and Lane packed up their purchases, stood up and walked out the door, Rory waving back to Jess and she left.

Going back behind the counter, Jess caught a glimpse of Luke staring at him incredulously. "What?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke asked, confused and furious at his nephew's actions.

"What do you mean by that, uncle of mine?" Jess answered sarcastically.

"What do you think you're doing kissing Rory? She has a boyfriend! I can't believe she didn't slap you across the face!"

_Wow, can Luke be any more behind with the times._ "Are you that much of a hermit? Rory and Dean broke up this morning. She and I have been together since last night. Catch up, man."

"Whoa, how did you get together last night if she just broke up with Dean this morning? And what about you and Shane?" Luke was incredibly confused now.

"Rory and I talked last night at the bridge. We decided that we wanted to be together, so last night I broke up with Shane. This morning was the soonest that Rory was able to talk to Dean, so she broke up with him then. Does that answer all of your questions?"

"Does Lorelai know about this?"

"Yes."

"Does she like the fact that you are now going out with her daughter?"

"Beats me. According to Rory she doesn't exactly hate me, so that's a good sign, right?" Jess stated in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"I swear to God, if you mess this up or hurt Rory in anyway, you will die a very painful death, do you understand me?"

"Man, do the people at social services know that you threaten me like that? 'Cause that could get you arrested."

"Don't be smart with me Jess. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Yeah, I understand," Jess said.

"Good, now get back to work," Luke ordered.

Jess went back to filling up coffee cups while Luke, looking satisfied with their chat, started wiping down the counter.

_Fade out._

**A/N:** What did ya think? Sorry it took a while to get it up. I've been busy getting ready for my spring break trip to Florida! Whoo hoo, three days baby! Please review! I'll update again after vacation!


	3. Chapter 3

**Smile, You're in Love**

**Summary:** Story starts off with the Rory/Jess encounter in Doose's from end of episode 3.02 "Haunted Leg". Continues in a completely different direction from then on. Literati, of course, with maybe, I stress maybe, a little LL action somewhere in there.

**Disclaimer:** As previously stated, I own nothing related to Gilmore Girls, other than Seasons 1-5 on DVD and the soundtrack…

**A/N: **Wow, it's been quite a while since I last updated, huh? Sorry, I had a bit of a rough patch after spring break with some personal problems, then finals, then a bunch of other stuff, but it's all good now. So now here's chapter 3!! Yay! Now, please read and review, I will greatly appreciate it! Oh, is anyone else extremely mad about the season finale?? I thought it was a complete disgrace. I can't believe ASP ended her run with the show like that. Wow. Anyway, here ya go.

**Chapter 3**

"So…"

"So…?"

"So…What do you think?"

"What do I think about what?" Jess asked, as they walked down the street past Al's Pancake World.

"What do you think of the whole war in Iraq thing? What do you think I'm talking about? What do you think of the movie? Was it good? Was it bad? Should I completely trash it? Burn it or keep it? Come on! I need an opinion here!"

"I thought you already got like, five opinions, from Lorelai, Sookie, Kirk, Rory, etc. Why do you need my opinion too?" Jess was starting to get annoyed.

"Because! You can never be too sure about these things. And you can never have too many opinions! Now tell me, what did you think of _The Wall_? Was it good?" Lane continued to question him.

"Yes! It was good! There's my opinion! Will you leave me alone now?"

"Yes. Thank you." Lane walked off in the direction of her house, smiling to herself.

Frustrated, Jess continued walking towards the diner. Reaching his destination, he walked through the door and collapsed onto a stool at the counter. He put his head in his arms, completely exhausted from listening to Lane rant about Pink Floyd's _The Wall_ for the past half hour.

"Jeez, you look like you've been through a war zone or something," Luke stated as he came out of the kitchen, carrying plates of burgers and fries.

"Lane was bugging me to give her my opinion of a movie, and then to write a five page analysis of it, that way she could have a detailed account of my thoughts on it. Apparently Lorelai, Rory, Sookie, and Kirk have all agreed to do so, and Rory had said that I would be happy to help out as well." Jess said, giving his uncle a cruel stare as he went around filling coffee cups.

"That's Lane for you. She's been doing that since she was six."

"That girl is insane."

"Well, she is a little obsessed when it comes to music," Luke agreed, ringing up someone's order at the register.

"I don't understand why she has to bug me about everything she buys though," Jess remarked.

"Well, you are Rory's boyfriend. And Lane is Rory's best friend, so that means that Lane will be hanging around with Rory, and Rory will be hanging around with Lane, and if you want to hang around with Rory, then you'll have to start learning how to tolerate Lane, because you'll be hanging around with her too," Luke explained.

"Jeez, now my head hurts. You need to learn how to explain things better."

"Yeah, well, get over it." Luke walked away, going to the storage room to get some more coffee.

The bell above the door jingled as Lorelai and Rory walked in, talking about God knows what at lightning speed. Jess watched them as they sat down at a table, never stopping their conversation for minute, not even to breathe.

"So then I'm like, 'How do you not know who Barry Watson is?' And he's like, 'Why should I know who he is?' And I'm like, 'Because, he's a genius. He's gorgeous, and an amazing actor. Please tell me that you've at least seen _Boogeyman_?'" Lorelai ranted.

"And has he seen it?" Rory asked.

"No! He hasn't! So then I was shocked, obviously, so I said, 'Michel, how have you never seen _Boogeyman_? How do you not know who Barry Watson is? Have you never seen _7th Heaven_?'"

"Oh, no, he has to have seen _7th Heaven_. Everybody has seen _7th Heaven_! It's a classic!"

"Oh, you'd be shocked. He has never seen _7th Heaven_. So I was about to go off on a rant about how not seeing _7th Heaven_ is completely unacceptable and that he has not experienced all life has to offer if he doesn't see it, and he was about to start yelling at me to shut up and to leave him alone, when I hear this huge crash coming from the kitchen!"

"What happened?" Rory asked.

"Well, apparently, Sookie was making some weird soup thing, and she put too much of some ingredient in, and the whole thing exploded on the stove. The kitchen was covered in purple goop," Lorelai stated.

"Gross!"

As this conversation was taking place, Luke had come back behind the counter, and was staring, along with Jess, at the girls with confused and lost looks on their faces. Snapping out of his trance, Jess stood up and walked over to their table, in an attempt to stop their discussion and take their order.

"So, as interesting as this all sounds, I think it's about time that the two of you figured out what you want to eat," Jess said.

Lorelai and Rory just kept on going with their conversation, not even noticing that Jess was standing there.

"Ok, if the two of you don't shut up now, neither of you will be getting coffee for a week!" Jess threatened.

Lorelai gasped. "You cannot withhold coffee from us! It's against the law!"

"Yeah! Us without coffee is like, Doc Brown and his time machine without plutonium! We won't be able to walk or talk or do anything!" Rory exclaimed.

"Well, maybe if you stopped talking about ridiculous subjects, I'd be able to take your order so you could get your beloved coffee."

"I guess he has a point," Lorelai conceded. "We'll have two burgers, fries, and two large cups of coffee."

"Coming right up." Jess gave Rory a quick kiss before walking back towards the kitchen.

"Hey, wait a minute," Lorelai said, realizing something. "We don't talk about ridiculous subjects! They make perfect sense! And they are necessary to be talked about, because otherwise, how would all the worlds' problems be solved?"

"I don't think that you talking about how gorgeous someone is and if someone has ever seen some TV show will solve the worlds' problems," Luke said as he came over to pour the girls' coffee.

"How would you know? For all you know, our conversations about _7th Heaven_ and _Boogeyman_ could be the key to finding world peace," Lorelai shot back.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see about that." With that comment, Luke walked back behind the counter, leaving the girls to discuss some other crazy topic.

"So, are you ready for school to start again?" Lorelai asked, deciding it was time for a change of topic now that she had some coffee in her.

"Oh yeah, I'm completely ready. Although, since it's senior year, I do have to start worrying about college applications," Rory said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, but you don't have to worry too much, you already know that you're going to Harvard," Lorelai responded. _It has to be Harvard, there's no way it could be anything else._

"Just because I want to go to Harvard doesn't mean that I'm definitely going to get in. Lots of people dream about going to Harvard and don't get in." _I have to get in. There's no way that I won't. I have to go there._

"Ah, now, don't be so negative about it. You know you'll get in. You have perfect grades, great extracurriculars, you're an awesome kid. Harvard would be completely stupid if they did not accept you," Lorelai reasoned.

"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see until after I send in my applications. Plus, I still have to pick my alternates, so then I can worry about those, plus graduation, prom, everything like that," Rory stated. "And Paris is going to be going insane with all the work for the Franklin this year, since it's senior year, and she's editor. Then there's the whole president/vice president thing that I have to deal with. This year is going to be really busy."

"You worry too much," Lorelai said. Jess chose this moment to bring their food to them. "Don't you think she worries too much, Jess?"

"I don't know." Jess placed their food in front of them and walked away.

"Very talkative boyfriend you got there."

"Well, you put him on the spot. He doesn't do well answering random questions that you just happen to come up with at a moments notice," Rory argued.

"Yes, well, we'll just have to change that then, won't we?" Lorelai said.

"Have fun trying to do that," Rory stated, taking a bite of her burger.

"I will."

The bells above the door jingled as Taylor walked into the diner. "Oh, Luke, there you are, just the man I wanted to see. I've been meaning to talk to you about…"

"Out."

"But Luke, I wanted to talk to you about the new…"

"I said get out Taylor."

"Oh, this is gonna be a good one, I can tell," Lorelai whispered to Rory.

"Luke, if you would just listen to me for a minute, you'd know that I was looking into buying land across the road from the diner in order to build a Starbucks-like coffee house for the people of Stars Hollow," Taylor explained.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked menacingly.

"And I need your signature saying I can build on the land because part of it is still under your father's name since he owned the land. So, according to the law, I am obligated to have you sign the papers because you're now the rightful owner of the land. Believe me, if I didn't have to have your signature, I would start building right away, but I suppose it is your land and I need your signature. I was thinking of calling the place 'The Coffeehouse of Taylor'. That has such a good ring to it, don't you think?"

"You want to build a coffee house on _my_ land? You are _insane_ if you think I'm gonna sign any papers for you to build on that land! Now, get the hell out of my diner!" Luke yelled.

"Yes! I knew today was going to be a good day! We are now witnesses to what could most likely be the worst Taylor/Luke fight in history! And we're front row center too! This is amazing!" Lorelai excitedly whispered.

"You are so mean," Rory whispered back.

"Luke, if you'd just be reasonable for once…" Taylor started.

"Reasonable! You want me to be REASONABLE? You want to build a disgusting, overdone coffeehouse on MY land, and I'm the one being unreasonable?? You are crazy! You are insane! GET OUT OF MY DINER!" Luke bellowed. "OUT! NOW!"

Luke's face was getting redder and redder by the minute, so much that it was almost purple. Taylor took one look at it and bolted out of the diner, running back to the market to hide. Lorelai sat at her table laughing, while Rory sipped her coffee.

"So, what movie? _Animal House_ or _The Blues Brothers_? Or we could watch both and have a John Belushi marathon?" Rory asked.

"How about those two and _The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash,_ too?" Jess asked.

"Oh, yeah, good idea! And we can get Indian food!"

"No."

"Oh, come on, why not?"

"Because you'll never get the smell out. We've been over this before, many times in fact," Jess said.

"We've been over it once."

"Twice."

"Nope, once."

"It was twice."

"Why are we fighting over this?" Rory asked.

"I have no idea," Jess replied.

"Well, it's stupid to fight over it. Anyways, you got to pick the food last time, so this time we're getting Indian food," Rory decided. With that, she walked off down the street, Jess following her trying to change her mind.

As they were passing the bookstore, Kirk jumped out of nowhere into the middle of the sidewalk dressed in a full Scotsman outfit, complete with a green and red plaid kilt and bagpipe.

"Top of the mornin' to ya," Kirk exclaimed, trying to speak with a thick Scottish accent and failing miserably. "How're ye laddie and lassie doin' this fine day?"

"Hey, Kirk. What're you up to now?" Rory asked, trying as hard as she could to stifle a laugh at the man's outfit.

"I'm advertisin' for the new festival that Taylor's come up with. We're celebratin' St. Patty's day, just the same way as the Scots have done all these years!!!" Kirk shrieked, handing out fliers for the festival that would be held in the town square.

"Kirk, um…sorry to have to be the one to tell you this," Jess said, smirking, "but St. Patty's day is in March. It's September right now. And besides, it's an Irish holiday…not a Scottish holiday." With that, Jess and Rory continued down the street towards the Crap Shack, Jess's arm around Rory's shoulders, Kirk yelling after them in his crazy way.

Rory leaned back into Jess's arms as the last movie ended. They had finished all three movies, as well as a table load of junk food and take out. They now sat contently on the couch staring into space as the credits to _The Rutles: All You Need is Cash_ rolled across the television screen.

"Good movie," Jess stated.

"Definitely," Rory agreed. "I will never get tired of watching John Belushi and Eric Idle."

"What I don't understand is why George Harrison was the only Beatle who was actually in the movie. You'd think the others would have some involvement, just to make it more interesting," Jess contemplated.

"Well, I guess we'll never know." With that, Rory stood up and started to clear up the pile of sweets that littered the table in front of them. Jess reached out, grabbing her around the waist, pulling her back down onto the couch. Rory squealed as she fell back into Jess's arms. The bags of candy that had occupied her arms fell to the floor. Jess kissed her temple as he held her, taking in the sweet smell of her hair, not wanting to let her go.

Rory sighed contentedly as she relaxed into Jess, forgetting about the mess in front of them for the time being. She tried to reach behind Jess without him noticing, reaching for his back pocket, but failing to get a hold of the book in the pocket before his hand deflected hers. She looked at him with the famous Gilmore pout, knowing he would cave in almost automatically. Jess sighed, and reached to pull the book out. Rory giggled and clapped, sitting up slightly to have a better position in which to read.

Jess smiled and held the book where Rory would be able to see the title. Rory groaned as she read the words, _The Old Man and the Sea_ by Ernest Hemmingway. "Why must you torture me like this?" she complained, attempting to playfully smack him, but not succeeding as he easily brushed her hand away.

"Because, it's fun to watch you squirm. You're cute when you're annoyed." He kissed the top of her head as he opened the book and began to read.

Rory gave up her argument, content to just listen to Jess's voice as he read from the pages of the novel, loving the fact that he seemed comfortable enough to be able to be somewhat cutesy and lovey-dovey around her. It was a great feeling, being this happy and content.

As the night came to a close, Jess and Rory had fallen asleep on the couch, almost finished with their reading of Hemmingway.

_Fade out._

**A/N:** Ok, so it's a bit shorter than the other chapters, but I've been busy with the workload that they've been piling on us this school year. Hope y'all liked it, please review, I greatly appreciate it. Let me know if I should continue or not. Suggestions are always welcome, cuz I'm not really sure where I wanna go with this, so if you have an idea, let me know. Happy belated Halloween! Haha….I'll try to get the next chapter up when I have time and when I come up with something to write….


End file.
